richard einhorn

From: Richard Einhorn
Date: Sunday, October 14, 2001 10:48 AM
Subject: An excellent letter and an update on 9.11 research.

Hello, all,

I hope everyone dug the bert and bin flap yesterday. In case this occasions a "What are you talking about?" go here.

I think there's a lesson there, somewhere.

Below is an excellent letter to the NY Times by Eric Foner, Professor of History at Columbia University. I wrote to thank him and, as it's short, I've included that as well.

October 14, 2001
The `Freedom' America Forgot
Foreign Affairs: It's Freedom, Stupid (October 9, 2001)

To the Editor:

Thomas L. Friedman ("It's Freedom, Stupid," column, Oct. 9) insists that the "animating vision of America in the world is the promotion and protection of freedom." His definition of freedom consists of freedom of speech, religion, politics and "freedom of markets" — that is, economic globalization.

In practice, this last freedom has meant allowing multinational corporations to shift resources across the globe in an endless search for lower wages and looser labor standards. It involves empowering institutions over which there is no semblance of democratic control, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to dictate national economic policies. What kind of freedom is that?

Mr. Friedman should look at the Allies' war aims in World War II as embodied in Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms — freedom of speech and religion, freedom from fear and freedom from want. During the cold war, this last disappeared from official rhetoric as vaguely socialistic.

But it is a worthier goal than the pursuit of profit heedless of the human consequences, even if wrapped in the language of freedom.

ERIC FONER
New York, Oct. 9, 2001
The writer is a professor of history at Columbia University.

Dear Professor Foner,

Thank you for your intelligent letter to the NY Times today reminding us of the Four Freedoms of Roosevelt. I have nothing to add to it except that it is some indication of how estranged we in the US have become from the conditions that bred the terrorism we deplore that we have to be reminded that freedom from want is a fundamentally more basic freedom than freedom of corporate expansion.

Yours,

I am busy compiling a list of useful sites for alternate news gathering and essays. I've found some that provide a very different view than the views you're likely to get from American media. Regardless of whether or not you oppose this war (as I must on both moral and strategic grounds), I think you will find them extremely interesting. Some essays, in fact, advocate a position diametrically opposed to my own.

I am still looking for a reliable site to view and/or download complete videos from bin Laden and al-Qaeda, now that the US networks have decided to censor themselves at the request of the government (as ominous a development as I can remember). I'd be grateful if anyone could point me towards a site with an English translation.

(In case it needs spelling out, any terrorist who wants to get secret messages from videos need only log on to al-jazeera.com at a public library. The only imaginable reason to deny us access to these videos is to prevent Americans from being snookered by bin Laden's irrepressible charm - highly unlikely if you know anything about the fellow. The step from this nonsense to the suppression of US atrocities and major "collateral damage"is a small one. Has the media forgotten My Lai, the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate?)

Best,

Richard


	From: Richard Einhorn Date: Sunday, October 14, 2001 10:48 AM Subject: An excellent letter and an update on 9.11 research. Hello, all, I hope everyone dug the bert and bin flap yesterday. In case this occasions a "What are you talking about?" go here. I think there's a lesson there, somewhere. Below is an excellent letter to the NY Times by Eric Foner, Professor of History at Columbia University. I wrote to thank him and, as it's short, I've included that as well. October 14, 2001 The `Freedom' America Forgot Foreign Affairs: It's Freedom, Stupid (October 9, 2001) To the Editor: Thomas L. Friedman ("It's Freedom, Stupid," column, Oct. 9) insists that the "animating vision of America in the world is the promotion and protection of freedom." His definition of freedom consists of freedom of speech, religion, politics and "freedom of markets" — that is, economic globalization. In practice, this last freedom has meant allowing multinational corporations to shift resources across the globe in an endless search for lower wages and looser labor standards. It involves empowering institutions over which there is no semblance of democratic control, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to dictate national economic policies. What kind of freedom is that? Mr. Friedman should look at the Allies' war aims in World War II as embodied in Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms — freedom of speech and religion, freedom from fear and freedom from want. During the cold war, this last disappeared from official rhetoric as vaguely socialistic. But it is a worthier goal than the pursuit of profit heedless of the human consequences, even if wrapped in the language of freedom. ERIC FONER New York, Oct. 9, 2001 The writer is a professor of history at Columbia University. Dear Professor Foner, Thank you for your intelligent letter to the NY Times today reminding us of the Four Freedoms of Roosevelt. I have nothing to add to it except that it is some indication of how estranged we in the US have become from the conditions that bred the terrorism we deplore that we have to be reminded that freedom from want is a fundamentally more basic freedom than freedom of corporate expansion. Yours, I am busy compiling a list of useful sites for alternate news gathering and essays. I've found some that provide a very different view than the views you're likely to get from American media. Regardless of whether or not you oppose this war (as I must on both moral and strategic grounds), I think you will find them extremely interesting. Some essays, in fact, advocate a position diametrically opposed to my own. I am still looking for a reliable site to view and/or download complete videos from bin Laden and al-Qaeda, now that the US networks have decided to censor themselves at the request of the government (as ominous a development as I can remember). I'd be grateful if anyone could point me towards a site with an English translation. (In case it needs spelling out, any terrorist who wants to get secret messages from videos need only log on to al-jazeera.com at a public library. The only imaginable reason to deny us access to these videos is to prevent Americans from being snookered by bin Laden's irrepressible charm - highly unlikely if you know anything about the fellow. The step from this nonsense to the suppression of US atrocities and major "collateral damage"is a small one. Has the media forgotten My Lai, the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate?) Best, Richard
	back to responses 4 to newsnotes table of contents